Living A Lie
by Jennifer Jolie
Summary: Hermione is about to learn the shocking truth about her parents, her destiny, and herself. She was born to be the greatest dark witch who ever lived... Later HarryHermRon triangle, Bellatrixyou'll see! CH3: the castle comes under attack! Who could it be?
1. Chapter 1

It was a cold, rainy night. Thunder clouds floated over a school called Hogwarts. In a corner of the castle, a girl named Hermione Granger was crying, her tears like the rain falling loudly outside.

Hermione Granger was not your average girl. She was a very powerful witch for her age, and even though she had to study sometimes things can very easily to her. In fact, lately she had been very good at using the Dark Arts.

On Sunday, going into the portrait hole that led to the Gryffindor common room, she had heard running footsteps behind her. She felt very scared and paranoid and turned and screamed, "_Polyuria_" She then heard a very familiar scream. She turned and realized Ron had fallen down on the floor shivering excessively. Later she couldn't explain to Madam Pomfrey how it had happened. How did she ever learn such an evil spell?

Then yesterday when eating in the Great Hall she had felt something poke her foot. She screamed and jumped in the air, waving her wand and saying, "_Urticaria__!"_ Across the table from her, Harry started twitching uncontrollably and again had to be taken to the nurse's office. Hermione didn't remember even reading about a curse like that before… and yet she'd used it? How could this be?

Lately Hermione had taken to sitting alone in a corner of the Gryffindor common room, shivering and crying softly, but no one could see her behind the curtain of shining brown hair, which she let down where it fell to her waist. No one came to talk to her. Everyone ignored her. Sometimes she thought they were whispering behind her back. Even Harry and Ron looked different… She had to admit to herself that her heart still stopped beating every time she looked at Harry, even then. He was such a hot guy… but how could she possible ever have a chance with him? And she couldn't tell any of her friends, in case they laughed at her.

Who were her friends? Did she have any friends? A tear streamed down her creamy cheek. She always felt so lost and confused, with no one to talk to. Another tear developed in her shining hazel eyes. She was so alone. Alone… Always alone… Alone in the common room. Alone in the library. Alone. All alone…

Even her parents were acting strangely. Hermione had always loved her parents, even though she never used to see them very much, because they were busy dentists, but now she saw them even less because she was at Hogwarts. But they always replied her letters, even if they were afraid of the owls. But lately she hadn't heard from them at all. Did they not love her anymore?

Fresh tears came to Hermione's tearful brown eyes, and she began to sob aloud, but still no one came to her. Harry and Ron were studying for a divination test. Hermione laughed sarcastically to herself. She knew she of all people should be studying too, but she just didn't feel like it. Anyway she would still get top marks in all her classes tomorrow. The only thing she felt like reading about was Dark Arts… but not defense against the Dark Arts, her class, but the DARK ARTS themselves…

Something was very wrong. Hermione could feel it. Something was not right. Why was she suddenly so interested in the Dark Arts? Why had her parents mysteriously disappeared?

Hermione went upstairs and changed into her white lace-trimmed silk nightgown. She didn't understand her life anymore. She was about to lose all hope. Who was she really? Outside she looked like the smart, perfect girl, but inside she was falling apart.

"Why do I have to live a lie?" Hermione whispered to herself, lying in bed. She read a few pages of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen before giving up, it wasn't as interesting as a lot of people said it was. She couldn't sleep. But eventually she fell asleep.

_I'm going under, _

_D__rowning__ you_

_I'm falling forever, _

_I've got to break through, _

_I'm going under._

_Blurring and stirring the truth and the lies, _

_So I don't know what's real and what's not._

_Always confusing the thoughts in my head,_

_So I can't trust myself anymore._

When she opened her eyes again she didn't know where she was. "Great," she said to herself in disgust, thinking she must have gotten drunk on the secret stash of Firewhiskey she kept under her bed, it wouldn't be the first time. She sat up and looked around. She was in some kind of a dungeon. The walls were covered in torture equipment.

Somewhere behind her, she heard a woman laugh. Hermione turned around quickly.

"Bellatrix Lestrange!" she cried out, shocked.

"Hermione!" said Bellatrix, caressing her wand between her long slender pale fingers. "You don't know how long I've wanted to see you…" She shook her long shining black hair from her alabaster face. She was smiling, but… not evilly. She looked… caring?

"Let me go," screamed Hermione.

"Hermione, my lovely girl…" Bellatrix smiled. "Such a smart, pretty girl… Surely you must have guessed, after all these years?"

"Guessed what? Why are you keeping me here?" Hermione looked at the torture equipment in fear.

"Oh, Hermione, surely you must have realized that such a gifted witch as you… with such great potential for the Dark Arts… could not have come from _Muggle_ parents?"

"I don't understand…" Hermione's large brown eyes filled with tears. She was so confused. What was happening?

"Don't cry, child," Bellatrix whispered, putting a hand on her shoulder. And for the first time in months, Hermione did not flinch away, just carried on sobbing, sobbing until she could not make tears anymore.

"B-bellatrix…" Hermione said. "What's going on?"

Bellatrix smiled again, a glint in her totally black eyes. "A glorious time of your life is finally going to begin…"

Her next two words made Hermione's mouth fall open.

"_…My daughter._"

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	2. Chapter 2

Thunder and lightning boomed in the sky, with dark winds blowing. It was very cold, too, so the rain that fell was almost like snow. Inside, Hermione shivered, but it had nothing to do with the cold.

Hermione had been taken to a bedroom – _I guess this is mine now, _she thought, as she saw that all her belongings, even the many bookshelves of her precious books, had been moved into the room. Everything was neatly arranged, the way she liked it. But when she opened the huge darkwood wardrobes, she didn't find her jeans or sweaters or sneakers, her Muggle clothes. Which she suddenly didn't find at all appealing anymore – _even that new jacket I bought at H&M last summer... eww, how could I ever have worn anything like that?_ Her Hogwarts uniforms were there, though, freshly washed and cleaned, but she didn't feel like wearing her school uniform around this... building, or whatever it was.

Hermione walked over to the next darkwood wardrobe and opened it. What she saw made her gasp in surprise. There were many racks of very elaborate, very formal dress robes, and even a shelf of what appeared to be corsets! Most of them were made of silk, or velvet, and were decorated with lace. Hermione had never seen them before, but they all looked like they were just her size.

_How long have they been expecting me here? And besides Bellatrix, who's holding me here? Where am I?_

Hermione selected a long black dress and a long flowing midnight blue cape to go with it. They fit her slim figure perfectly, hugging her ample curves. This wasn't her usual thing, but she felt... experimental. And definitely different.Very different. Could that be so wrong?

Hermione looked at her reflection in the tall, full length glass mirror by the wardrobe. She almost didn't recognize what she saw there. Her long, shining dark hair looked almost raven black in the candlelight, and her face was pale white – from fear. She was shocked to find that in her new clothes, she looked beautiful... She had never thought of herself as beautiful before. Not beautiful enough to be loved.

Tears rolled down her marble white cheeks. Would she ever see Harry again?

Did she look like Bellatrix? Would she become like Bellatrix? She knew, of course, that Bellatrix Lestrange had been the right hand of Voldemort and certainly assisted him with his dark deeds. But she had also been so kind to Hermione... and she was her mother, after all. Her real mother...

Hermione belonged here.

Was this the house of the Lestranges? It could be. After all, if Bellatrix was her mother, Rodolphus Lestrange must be her father. Hermione shivered. Was her true name Hermione Lestrange?

If so, why were they imprisoning her here? She'd been alone for over an hour. Hermione wanted some answers. What was going on? Why was everything always kept secret from her?

With a cry of frustration, Hermione threw the nearest object she could find, a small metal box, into the mirror. The mirror shattered into hundreds of tiny shards, and Hermione cried out as some of the shards landed on her hand. She looked at her hand. Blood welled from some tiny cuts, but she wasn't badly hurt. However, without a wand, she couldn't heal herself. She found a white silk handkerchief in one of the darkwood wardrobes and wrapped her hand in it.

But the metal box... Hermione kneeled down to look at it more closely. It had opened after falling to the floor. It looked like some kind of jewelry box. Inside it were a ruby necklace, pearl earrings, and a few jewelled rings. But something else was far more interesting...

Hermione lifted out a long silver chain. An oval-shaped locket hung from the end of it. She opened the two ovals with trembling hands. It opened easily to her touch. She was disappointed to find that there were no portraits in it – she was curious to learn more about her newfound history. Instead, inside was a small folded square of parchment. The note read:

_My dearest Bella, if you are reading this now, then you must know the dark evil that has overcome me... My soul has become tainted. You are the only one powerful enough to save me. I myself do not know the spell or enchantment strong enough to overcome the darkness, but I trust you will find the way. This I write with all the love I have to give, imperfect as it is. Know that I will always love you._

Hermione almost dropped the locket. She had had so many questions, and now she only had more. 'Bella' must mean Bellatrix, but who had written the note? What did the writer mean, 'tainted'? 'The darkness'?

"Hermione!" Bellatrix's voice rang out.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway outside her room. Hermione quickly put the locket around her neck and tucked it away under her dress so it could not be seen.

She would figure it out some other time. After all, wasn't she the cleverest witch her age? She was Hermione... Hermione... Hermione shivered. Hermione Lestrange.

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	3. Chapter 3

Black were the dark skies and noisy was the howling wind. It was dark weather but Hermione liked it. _It's like how I feel in my soul_, she thought. _Black. And disturbed._

_And I _am_ a Black now too, aren't I, after all? _Hermione still felt confused. It was all so shocking...

Bellatrix burst through the door to Hermione's bedroom. "Hermione!" she called.

"I'm right here!" said Hermione, getting up quickly, making sure the locket could not be seen. She wasn't sure if she was ready to let Bellatrix know that she knew about it yet.

"Hermione my dear, I'm glad you look so nice!" Hermione blushed and smiled. Not many people had told her she was pretty... Bellatrix continued, "Now listen to me, I have so many things I have to tell you. I wish so many times before that I could have told you earlier... you should've known earlier about your family. You must feel... so taken aback."

"Not really," said Hermione. But then a tear filled her eyes. "I'm glad I found out about my family, Bel- mother, but what about my friends? Will I ever see them again?"

Now Bellatrix's face hardened. "No, Hermione. No, you will see them again... but now, everything has changed. They're not your friends anymore."

"That's a lie!" cried Hermione. "I know my friends, you don't! They wouldn't ditch me just because of who my parents were!"

"Hermione," Bellatrix began, beginning to raise her voice, "it's not so simple. You can't be friends with them anymore, do you understand? You know very well that that boy you call your friend, Harry Potter-"

"He _is_ my friend!" said Hermione shrilly. "Don't talk about him like that!"

"-that boy you call your friend, Harry Potter, is a deathly sworn enemy of ours..."

"NO!" shouted Hermione. "HE'S NOT! That's not fair! It isn't fair! Why should he be? What has he done?"

Bellatrix's eyes grew cold as ice. "Hermione, I am your mother! I will not be spoken to that way, Hermione!"

"Too bad, get used to it if you're going to insult my friends!" Hermione yelled. "Who're you going to pick on next, Ron?"

"The Weasleys are the filthiest blood traitors ever to live!" Bellatrix shrieked. "Hermione, you have no idea what sort of company you've been keeping! I don't know why you hang out with boys like them! Doesn't their company feel poisonous? I will not allow you to besmirch our good family name! You are a witch of pure wizarding blood, Hermione, pure wizarding blood! There's a reason why the Black family motto is _toujours pur!_ When I was your age I already knew all of this! If I ever..."

As Bellatrix ranted, Hermione felt anger bubbling inside her, along with another feeling she'd never felt before. Somehow the thought of Ron made her feel... warm. She was shocked. All of her memories of Ron came flooding back to her. His adorable red hair, his loopy smile, his intellect and sense of humor, the touch of his hand... Did she really think of Ron as... _more than a friend?_

"And if your father only knew!" Bellatrix screamed, but Hermione cut her off.

"Rudolphus, right?" Catching Bellatrix look of shock, Hermione smirked. "Oh yes, I've guessed it, haven't I? I know all about him!"

Bellatrix looked dazed. "Hermione-" she began, but Hermione cut her off.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier, mother?" Hermione started to sob. "I want answers! You don't understand! Do you know how hard it's been for me? My _fake_ parents were never that close to me, no matter how smart or pretty or brave I was, and I never knew _why! WHY? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?_"

"Hermione, please, you must understand," Bellatrix said, looking worried. "Your father and I love you very much, but we were... busy."

"BUSY?" shrieked Hermione. "Too busy for me? Your only daughter? Do you even know what love is?"

Bellatrix looked shocked. Hermione, even though she was crying, felt gratified, and then hated herself for feeling that way. _Is it... can I be turning evil?_

"I'm going upstairs," Hermione announced viciously, turning away. "I don't even know if I want to be a part of this family anymore. I don't even know _who I am_! I don't even know ANYTHING!" At that moment, an alarm began to sound.

"What's going on? What happening?" Hermione said.

"The castle is under attack!" Bellatrix shouted, taking out her wand. "Hermione, go to your room and stay there!"

"No! I want to fight!"

Bellatrix raised her wand. "Don't make me use the Imperius curse on you, Hermione. I don't want to... but if you force me to, I will."

_She'd use an Unforgivable Curse on her own daughter? Merlin's beard, but my mother is an evil bitch!_ Sulking and sobbing, Hermione turned on her heel and ran up the stairs. As she slammed the door of her room she heard the splintering of wood. She checked the door again but it looked alright. The sound must have come from somewhere else! She thought. Someone – or a group of people – must be breaking into the castle!

Hermione quivered. Surely Bellatrix had enemies... and now she, Hermione, was on Bellatrix's side. Worst of all, she was alone. All alone.

The next word she heard was, _"Alohomora."_

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